Sanguine Circle: Corruption
by thadudeman
Summary: Sanguine Circle, a criminal organization, has corrupted Corneria City, putting it under their iron grip. Team Starfox fights this evil within their own capital city, until even the government turns against them. Star Fox must fight them... alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I know I haven't written anything besides cancellation notes for quite awhile, and I am truly sorry for that. A hectic life sucks when it comes to writing. ****Anyway, this is the new story I am beginning on the Starfox archive. I hope you like it!**

Fox felt the cold steel of the pistol in his coat, causing a chill to rise up his spine. Keeping his head looking down, he tried to not raise any attention from other civilians and potential enemies to himself. He was searching for something, his eyes darting from left to right, taking in his surroundings each time as he did. He could also clearly see another disguised soldier, across the street from him, also wearing a suit and tie.

A small static sound issued from the collar of Fox's suit. A quiet voice came from a tiny speaker sewn to Fox's collar. "Is the target in sight?"

Fox, without turning his head, spoke back in reply. "No. We have no visual on the target. Repeat, no visual on target." He said in a quiet voice. The soldier across the street apparently received the same message, and Fox could clearly hear him mouth the word "negative" into the speaker. Fox turned his head slowly to his right, keeping his eyes peeled for their primary target. They could not let him escape. The city's crime problem was beginning to become overwhelming to the Corneria police forces, or CPF for short. But now, one of their major leaders was moving in their grasp, and he didn't even know it.

Another static sound came from the microphone on his collar, and another voice spoke. "Hey, everything alright over there?"

It was Falco. Fox slowly lowered his head down to the microphone. "He's nowhere in sight. You?"

"Same here. Haven't seen 'em. When you see 'em, tell me."

"Roger that."

Fox stopped speaking into the microphone, and adjusted his collar casually, trying to appear like a normal businessman. Many civilians were walking behind him now, posing a major hazard for the operation. He looked across the street, and the same situation was there as well. And not only did the civilians pose a problem, but the number of vehicles had increased in the street. Realizing the type of situation they were now in, Fox tapped his microphone with one finger, and called it in. "Be advised, multiple civilians within proximity of southern arrest zone, over."

He waited for a response from control. He received it within only a couple of seconds, and the operator sent a message to the other agents. "Be advised, multiple civilians within area of operations. Proceed with caution, over."

Fox adjusted his collar again, trying to make his microphone invisible to others. As he did this, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that captured his interest; a small glint of light.

He immediately whipped his head around, and found the source of the light; a large monkey. Taking a closer look, Fox squinted, and then realized that their target was walking on the opposite side of the street of him. His eyes grew wide with realization, and he slowly and deliberately tapped the microphone once more.

"Target is on his way, approaching southern arrest zone, Pike Street, coming our way, over." Fox said quietly, his voice nearing a whisper. "Need all available units to converge at Pike Street, I repeat, all available units to converge at Pike Street, southern arrest zone. Proceed with caution, over."

Without waiting for a reply, he began to walk down the sidewalk, weaving in and out of civilians, trying to appear as calm as possible to avoid being noticed by the enemy. The other officer followed on the other side, nearing the enemy with every step. Fox kept an eye on the target, preparing to draw his pistol when the time was right to make the arrest.

This was it; only a few more steps until his fellow soldier and the target would cross paths. Fox reached into his suit coat, clutching the handle of the pistol in his right hand… he prepared to draw…

His fellow agent whipped out his pistol, pointing at the large monkey's chest. Fox could see him mouth, "you're under arrest" and then, Fox drew his gun as well, and quickly followed suit, aiming down the sights, right at the target. He shouted, "Freeze! Cornerian Police Forces, hands on your head!"

Suddenly, many of the civilians were heard screaming behind Fox. An audible cry of, "What's going on?" was clearly heard down the street. Fox ignored it, only focusing on the objective in front of him.

The monkey complied with Fox's orders reluctantly, and Fox continued to advance across the street, his gun pointed at the target, the sights glued onto the monkeys' chest. The other agent continued to point the gun at the monkey, but did not move to make the arrest.

Fox was almost halfway across the street, and the agent still hadn't made the arrest. Fox began to wonder what was taking the agent so long.

_What's he doing? I've got him covered with my gun, why won't he move? _

Nonetheless, Fox continued to move forward, and now he was almost three fourths of the way across the wide street. He began to lower his gun. Maybe the agent wanted him to make the arrest instead…

Then, something… a gut feeling in the pit of Fox's stomach, told him something wasn't right. No agent would wait that long to make an arrest. It just didn't make any sense…

The, in Fox's peripheral vision, he saw the agent move. Maybe he was making the arrest after all…

Fox glanced over at the agent, and suddenly, his heartbeat stopped. His throat went dry in an instant. Time seemed to stand still.

The agent was pointing his gun at Fox.

**I apologize for the short chapter, but unfortunately, I am notorious for short chapters. :( ****Anyways, does this story appear interesting? Please review and tell me what you think! Criticism welcome! Part two coming soon!**


	2. The Chase

**Authors note: Yes, yet another short chapter. Sorry. :( However, what I don't make up for in length of chapters, I write a lot of chapters instead, and I usually write new chapters for each switch of setting. Just so you guys know.**

Fox whipped his gun in the agents' direction, and took a running step to the side. The traitor pulled the trigger, and the sound of a gunshot echoed out, and the beam missed Fox by inches. Firing wild, Fox pulled the trigger twice, returning fire. Both shots missed, hitting the wall of the building behind them. The agent began to run in the opposite direction, shooting rapidly back at Fox. Both were trying to find cover before one could gain the upper hand. Fox slammed into the wall of a building on the side of the street, and noticed a dumpster about ten feet away. He clumsily stumbled over to the dumpster, taking a flying leap as another two beams hit the wall, barely missing Fox's torso. Fox slammed into the metal dumpster, quickly shuffling himself behind it as another bullet hit the ground next to him. He was breathing hard, tense as a coiled spring. Taking a peek out from behind the dumpster, he searched for his enemy, and sure enough, he immediately popped back as he saw a muzzle flash of the enemy agent's gun. Another bullet cut past the corner of the dumpster. Fox now knew where the agent was; behind a parked car.

Unfortunately, the target had taken advantage of this moment, and sprinted headlong into a nearby alleyway, escaping the shootout scene.

Before Fox could do anything else, the operator called into Fox's speaker. "Fox McCloud, what is your status?"

"Shots fired, multiple shots fired!" Fox shouted back. "Agent has gone rogue, I repeat, agent has gone rogue! Target has escaped arrest zone, need assistance, over!" Fox popped up, and pulled the trigger four times. He popped back down, and two shots returned in retaliation. The operator called Fox again, his voice blaring on the speaker.

"Remain within arrest zone, permission to engage enemy, over. Assistance is on the way."

Fox rolled his eyes when the operator said, "permission to engage". As if he didn't already know that. Pushing this thought to the back of his head, he poked his head out from behind the dumpster, but could not release another shot, because a line of vehicles went whizzing by, preventing any shots from being fired in either direction. However, Fox saw his chance, and aimed his pistol with both hands in the general direction of his enemy, waiting for the vehicles to clear up, waiting for a clear shot…

Every vehicle passed by, and Fox's heart rose into his throat. Apparently, his enemy had the same strategy as he. His head and upper body were clearly visible, his gun pointing at Fox.

Fox made his movement quick, and placed the sights of his gun on the agent's head, firing the pistol.

It was Fox's reflexes that saved his life. The rogue officer opened fire, but about one half second later than Fox. The laser struck him straight in the chest, the second he fired.

The impact of the bullet caused the agent's body to jerk to the right, and he missed Fox by almost six inches. Fox saw the agent go down, and knew right away that he had finally hit his enemy. Tapping the button on his collar, he called in, "Rogue agent down. Need assistance with intercepting target, over!"

"Roger that, all available units, proceed with intercepting primary objective. Agent Fox, what is your current location, over?"

"I am on Pike Street, in pursuit of target, moving northeast, over." said Fox, placing another magazine into his pistol. Then, another voice called in, and it wasn't the operator.

"Fox! I'm heading your way, over!" It was Falco again. "Is target in sight, over?"

"Falco!" Fox shouted. "Meet me at Left Central Avenue, over! I repeat, Meet me at Left Central Avenue!

"Can you see him?"

"Negative, target is not in sight. I'm running blind. Are you on foot, over?"

"Affirmative, heading your way."

Fox found himself in a maze of alleyways, each one leading somewhere different. He decided to turn right, and he slowed down, keeping his pistol at the ready. The target might be in this alleyway…

Emerging around the corner, he kept his pistol pointed forward as he searched the area for his prey…

And then, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head around, aiming his pistol up at a window.

He briefly saw a flurry of movement once more as the figure attempted to hide...

And then he realized it; that figure was a large monkey…

"Target sighted, target sighted!" He called into the operator. He pointed his gun at the figure. "Freeze! Don't move!"

However, he did the exact opposite, and disappeared from the window, fleeing once more. Fox lowered the pistol, heading for a flight of stairs.

"Damn it! Target is fleeing! In pursuit, in pursuit!" Fox swung around a pole, giving himself momentum to climb the stairs. He shot up them with almost no effort, and entered the building. Fox saw where he had escaped; an open door on the left. He shot through it, and descended another metal staircase, and into another alleyway. He saw the monkey running off to the left, heading towards the road. Fox ran after him, keeping up with him as best as he could, but it was difficult, considering the target was a fast runner.

"Target is heading towards Fischer Road, do you copy?" fox shouted into the microphone. "Still in pursuit, need assistance! I can't keep up with him for long!"

"We are sending as many available units as possible. We are almost there, just keep him in your sights, over."

"Roger that." Fox followed him around the corner of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk of the street. Tapping his collar once again, he called Falco.

"What is your location, Falco, over?"

"I'm at Left Central Street, over."

"Get to Fischer Road! Your right across from the target!"

"Roger that, Fox, I'm on my way!"

"Get ready to make an arrest, Falco! He'll be right across from you when you make the turn!

"Got it!"

Fox continued at his breakneck pace, knowing that the target was finally going to be captured. Left Central was the street right next to Fischer Street. Soon, Falco would round the corner, and it would all be over. Just a little while longer…

Sure enough, Falco rounded the corner of the street, immediately aiming his gun at the suspect.

"Freeze, don't move! Put your hands on your head now!" Falco advanced slowly, keeping his gun level with the monkey. "Do not move, or you will be shot."

Fox nodded to Falco, and Falco nodded back. Fox walked the final distance between him and the captured suspect, grabbed the monkey's arms, which were placed firmly on his head, and pulled them behind his back. "You are under arrest, sir, for the selling of drugs, weapons, and other paraphernalia, as well as murder and attempted murder, and resisting arrest. Anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law." Fox took out a pair of handcuffs, and placed them on the monkeys' wrist. "Any questions?"

He sneered back at Fox, and cursed at him under his breath.

Fox smiled. "That's right. Dig yourself even deeper into the pit." Just then, they heard sirens of a CPF cruiser. Fox sighed.

"Finally… they're here. It's about time, eh, Falco?

"Yeah. Once again, it's all left up to us. It's never changed, has it?"

"Nope, it never has. Now that we got this guy," he said, tapping the handcuffed suspect on the head, "we should be able to relax for a little while…"

"Y'all don't know shit!" Spat the monkey in interruption. "Relax? Hah! Y'all ain't never gonna relax! You ain't gonna win 'gainst us!"

"Shut up!" shouted Falco. "We don't need to hear anything more from you."

The cruiser pulled over to the side of the road, and two CPF officers got out of the car. One of them, the one nearest to Fox, smiled happily.

"I see you two finally got him, eh? Thanks for helping us out. We'll take over from here." He grabbed the contemptuous monkey off of the sidewalk and he and his partner put him into the back of the car. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." said Fox, almost nonchalantly. "It wasn't easy, considering Falco and I had to do it all by ourselves." His voice seemed to be hinting his displeasure at the two dog soldiers in front of him. "Especially since we didn't have vehicles."

He could sense their uneasiness, and because of this, they tried to leave as soon as possible. The same officer gave a farewell to both members of the Star Fox team. "Y'all take care now."

Both doors slammed shut, and the vehicle drove off down the road. Six other patrol cars followed them, and soon, all were gone down the road.

Just another long day in Corneria.

**Authors Note: Next chapter coming soon! Please, review!**


	3. Sanguine Circle

**Authors Note: To those of you who are actually reading this story, here's chapter 2. For those of you who are not reading this story, then READ! :D **

Nighttime had visited Corneria, coating it with a deep, murky blackness. The downtown area of the city had been lit alight with the glowing lights of cafés, hotels, and shops lining the street. Skyscrapers, including the central tower, easily overlooked the whole area, rising far above the rest of the city.

In the outer regions of the city, far away from the downtown area, lay a rundown ghetto with lines of homes all connected together. There was almost no activity there tonight, and the area was nearly silent.

However, a short, pudgy toad named Garr walked this alleyway. He seemed very out of place, dressed in a fancy suit and tie. He adjusted his tie, seeming very businesslike as he did. Turning left down another alley, he was now behind the entire row of buildings. He moved forward only three doors, and stopped. He turned at that door, and knocked on it three times.

He only had to wait a little while before a deep voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Password?"

The toad gave no hesitation in his answer. "Sanguine."

"Enter."

The door opened, and the toad walked inside. Four heavily armed men toting machineguns sat at all four corners of the room. The doorman closed the door the second the toad walked in, making it impossible for anyone to follow. The toad opened another door, and revealed a long flight of stairs to a basement below. The toad closed the door behind him, and descended the stairs, into a large room.

Each corner held a guard, and in the center of the room, sat a table, with five others sitting around it. Two were monkeys, one was a coyote, and the other was a toad That is, all the rest, save one, which sat at the head of the table.

He was a wildcat, completely red from head to toe. He had on a white suit, and a red tie. He appeared quite tall, even when seated. Whenever he smiled or opened his mouth, his razor sharp teeth were visible.

He was the leader here. His name was Vermillion, the pure red wildcat, whose fur was said to be stained with the blood of his enemies. He was the ruthless leader of Sanguine Circle, the organizers of all of the crime in the city. They were an unknown organization… and those that did discover them did not live for long. Murders, drug deals, bank robberies, bribery, kidnapping; it was all orchestrated by Sanguine Circle.

The first monkey, the one nearest to Garr, was Ripper, or so they called him. The greediest of all the members of the circle, and arguably the most violent, he was highly feared outside of the circle as one of the most "persuasive" leader around.

Garr, being a toad, was not considered to be very handsome, but his attempts at wearing fancy suits, rings, and watches tried to make up for it. He was the most relaxed member of the circle, not being as serious as some of the others about his job. However, he was still equally as ruthless, evil through and through.

Decklin, the other monkey in the circle, was a hardcore gangster, being very violent as well. His appreciation for orchestra music, however, was considered by many who did not know him well as a soft spot. But, his skill with a gun was far beyond most of the group members, and was not someone to mess with.

Cormack, the other toad, was the economic specialist, was always the manager of the organizations money, and he did his job well, giving the budget for their work (which was very high considering their domination over the drug dealing industry) and he was alone responsible for their funding. He also acted as a CEO of their drug industry, taking orders only from Vermillion himself. He was the one responsible for the funding of their "projects" or so they called them, and he carried his job out to maximum efficiency.

The last member, the only coyote in the group, had an official name, but he preferred to be called Korrow by those who knew him. Korrow was the most intimidating looking of the whole group, and was indeed the largest member, even more so than Vermillion. His face was always fixed into a snarl, and his intimidation factor served well for manipulation of others into submission. He was very quiet, normally not speaking unless spoken to.

Garr sat down at the only empty seat at the table. He casually adjusted his collar as he sat down. "Sorry I'm late gentlemen. Traffic in the downtown held me up for a little while."

"Don't worry, it's no problem, Garr." said Vermillion. Anyone else that might have been listening would have thought that Vermillion was being genuinely considerate. However, Vermillion Alakein was so unpredictable, nobody, not even the inner circle of Sanguine Circle, was completely safe. However, nobody in the inner circle was genuinely afraid of one another, and all respected each other fairly. Vermillion sat back in his seat, giving a gentle sigh. He drummed his fingers together once, and then spoke.

"Okay, gentlemen, we have a lot to discuss tonight. Any word from the outside?"

"Yessir." answered the toad, Cormack. "I have received word of the success of our latest drug deal. We've acquired five hundred grand from it."

"Good, good. Who is our customer?"

"Oh, nobody, just that gangbanger in the southeast ghetto. Said he needed some more supplies."

"Good, very good…" Vermillion trailed off. "Anybody else?"

"Yes, actually." Garr replied. "Nolun, one of our chief dealers, was captured yesterday by the CPF."

"Ah… yes. About that…" Vermillion paused, and leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. "I received word about that yesterday, nearly right after the incident. And I suppose you all thought the CPF were the ones who caught 'im. But, you're wrong."

Vermillion reached into his pocket, and slowly pulled out a small photo He placed on the table. I got this picture off of a security camera on Fisher Road, where the arrest took place. Now, take a look at this. Notice the figure on the right?" He pushed them toward the first one, Ripper, on his left. "Pass that around."

Ripper took a look at the photo, squinting, but saw nothing unusual. "Just a disguised officer, sir. No one I can see." He passed it down to the next one in the row, the coyote. He also looked at it, and also didn't recognize anyone. The same was for everybody. Vermillion watched silently as they passed it around the table, coming back to him. He sighed, asking them almost disbelievingly, "None of you saw anything?" He sat back, crossing his arms over his lap. "You guys sure?"

"Well, I mean, it's a guy in a suit and tie, like Garda said. Just a disguised police officer. The CPF use those all the time to make arrests."

"Ah, you see, it may be a disguised officer, but at the same time, it's not. Look more closely." said Vermillion, leaning forward again. He pointed to the figure on the picture with his claw, tapping it multiple times. "You know who that is?" He said excitedly. None of them gave any answer, and one shook his head. Vermillion gave up.

"Bloody hell, it's that damned Fox!" shouted Vermillion, slamming the photo onto the table. The rest of the circle jumped at his response. He clenched his fist, slamming it down onto the table. "That's right, that so-called police officer is actually the scourge of the Lylat System, Fox Mccloud! And if he's here, his entire team is sure to be with him. And guess what? He's the one who made that arrest yesterday!" He yelled.

Everybody else in the circle began to look skeptical, but not daring to make a comment when Vermillion was in one of these moods. However, he calmed down very quickly, taking a single deep breath, and spoke again in a normal tone. "I even received word of this arrest beforehand, and so I sent somebody to bribe one of those CPF officers sixty grand to take out the fox on the day of the arrest. Being just like everybody else we've ever encountered, he took the bribe. But, when the time came, he failed in his mission, and was killed by Fox." Vermillion unclenched and clenched his fists, and continued. "That Fox is the only thing standing between us and control of this entire city; him, and his team, because, unlike that agent and all the other blasted government workers, we can't just bribe or threaten him into submission. Oh no, the only way to get him out of the way is to kill him, but every attempt I make at it seems to just crash and burn. So…" He said, licking his lips, "What are we going to do about it? Are we just gonna let him keep throwing all of our dealers, all of our workers into jail?"

A short period of uneasy silence followed. Vermillion answered his own question. "No. No we're not. Now, you see, I have a plan. A more, well let's say _large scale _plan than our normal run of the mill drug dealings and bribery. You see, I'm thinking more up the scale this time, more of the…" He gave a long pause, and smiled, showing his sharp teeth, "assassination scale."

"So, you're gonna send an assassin at Fox? Didn't you already do that last time?" asked Ripper.

Vermillion did not turn his head to look at Ripper, but spoke nonetheless. "Oh no, why do something when it hasn't worked in the past? What's the sense in that? You see, I figured, why not crush his spirits first, have a little fun? Show him that he's really all alone in his efforts to take back the city from us, that his efforts mean nothing. Hows that sound, eh?"

"So, how're we gonna do that?" Asked Korrow in a low, grating voice. He hadn't said a word since the meeting started, and Vermillion turned his head in surprise.

"That's a very good question, I'm glad you asked!" said Vermillion gleefully. He leaned forward, placing both arms onto the table, and darting his eyes from left to right, watching each member intently.

"How many of you have heard of General Pepper?"

**Authors Note: So, here is the mighty Sanguine Circle. So, does this story seem interesting to any of y'all? **

**And for those of you who hate boring, slowly moving expositions, I'll try to make this story have a lot of action.**

**Chapter 3 coming soon! **


	4. Discussions, discussions

Vermillion smiled at the others shocked faces.

"General Pepper? Are you insane? He's under constant guard, one of the uppermost priorities on the Cornerian Center of Defense! How you gonna do that?" asked Cormack, a scornful look glued to his face. Vermillion sighed.

"Yes yes, I know. It's quite a feat, isn't it? Far more exciting than the usual routine. You see, I figure that if Fox realized that we could take out anyone, including the General, than he might back down. But, that's a fleeting thought in the back of my mind. I man, let's face facts here; Fox isn't going to just give up. But I figure, if we take out all of Fox's allies before him, then there won't be anything left to fight us. Corneria has some sort of loyalty to Fox and his gang; he's saved their asses on more than one occasion. We can't have anyone sparking a rebellion because poor old Foxy is dead, now can we?" He paused. "No leaders. That's what we need, my friends; no leaders except for us. Pepper is a leader, a leader with influence. We can't bribe or threaten him into submission; he's too high up the ladder for that. The only option left is to take him out. Get it now?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I get it…" stumbled Ripper. "But… but…"

"Who in hell are you gonna get to pull a stunt like that?" interrupted Garr. "He's under constant security, never comes outside. First off, how you gonna know where his location is to make the kill? Second, who's gonna be able to do that? He's gonna need more than skill to get through all of that security, let alone make the kill."

"Luck's more like it." spat Decklin.

"Now gentlemen, settle down here. I've got the perfect candidate for this daring mission." Vermillion said somewhat sarcastically. He gave a long pause. "I'm sure you all remember who carried out our last murder on that whiny CPF chief who threatened to turn all of us in to the authorities about two years ago." He smiled from ear to ear, waiting for a response. Suddenly, after a long period of silence, Decklin sighed, sitting back in his seat.

"Surely you don't mean Jackal?"

Vermillion laughed. "Oh yes. I mean Jackal."

* * *

Fox sat back in the seat of the taxi cab, taking a moment to relax. Falco sat across from him. He turned to Fox.

"So… um, how's the bride to be?" he asked. Fox gave no reply for awhile, but then turned his head to face Falco. He gave a brief smile, which was uncommon for him nowadays.

"She's fine." He stated simply. He quickly changed the subject, and asked Falco a different question. "What hotel are Slippy and Krystal staying at again?"

Falco shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know… Actually wait… oh yeah, that's right. They're staying at the Livingston Reich hotel downtown."

"Oh man, the Reich? That's a really nice hotel! How'd they get that?"

"Well, the Cornerian military is not exactly going to put Team Star Fox in a dinky motel at the southeast ghetto, now are they?"

"Well, no… although we'd probably capture more crooks if we were."

Falco laughed. "What? More like get shot by more crooks!"

Fox sighed. "Yeah." His face became a picture of sorrow. "You know, this used to be a nice city, and looked at what it's turned into." He shook his head, laughing remorsefully. "A spawning ground for thugs, drug dealers, and gangs."

Falco bit his lip. "Yeah… I know what you mean. I remember what the old Corneria was like before it turned into… well, _this._" He gesticulated with his arms at the city surrounding them. "We all remember."

"Yeah…" Fox hesitated to say anything more. They were almost there.

The taxi driver rounded the corner, and the tall figure of the Livingston Reich rose above them four stories high. Fox unfastened his seatbelt.

"We're here." He tapped the driver on the shoulder. "How much do we owe ya?"

"Fourteen dollars." The driver held out his hand.

Fox reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet, taking out fourteen dollars even and handed it to the driver. He took the money, folding it up and putting it into his pocket. "Thank you."

"No problem." Fox opened up the door, and got out of the car. Falco followed him, and they walked up the concrete stairs as the taxi drove off behind them.

They opened the glass door of the hotel, and a glorious scene opened up before them. A crystal chandelier hung over the posh lobby, covered in marble tiles. Three bright red sofas stood in the middle of the room. A large bar stood at the left of the check in counter the shelf consisting entirely of granite. Four sat at this bar, each one of them holding a fancy alcoholic beverage and wearing dark black suits. They were laughing hysterically.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Drunks." He walked over to the check in desk, with Falco at his side. He called out, "Um, hello? Anyone here?"

He did not have to wait for long. A female receptionist came from the room behind the office, and smiled. "Hello. How can I help you?"

Fox was not at all moved by her beauty, but Falco's eyes widened slightly, finding himself staring at her. Fox placed his hand onto the counter, leaning casually.

"Um, yes. Do you have two current hotel guests in your records named Krystal and Slippy Toad?"

"Um, let me check." She sat down at the seat next to the computer. Typing on the keyboard, she moved her hand to the mouse, making a few clicks before nodding her head.

"Yep, those two checked into here this morning."

"We would like to check into here as well, then." Fox handed her his credit card. "Two nights." He slid it on the counter over to her.

"Good. What are your names?"

Fox pointed to himself. "I am Fox Mccloud, and this is Falco Lombardi." He paused. She typed in both names into her records, and swiped the card.

"Okay. I'll schedule you in for two nights, room 304. Enjoy your stay." She handed him back the card. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He stuck the card back into his wallet, he rose his finger up in remembrance. "Whoops, I almost forgot to ask, could you tell us what rooms Krystal and Slippy are in?"

"Oh yes, sure." She went back onto the computer. She smiled. "Here we are, Room 216."

Fox smiled back. "Okay, thank you!" He walked over and tapped Falco on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

Falco did not immediately comply, but still stared at the lady behind the counter. He shook his head lightly, seeming to come out of a trance. "Oh, okay." He said, seeming in a daze. "Bye."

"Bye." She smiled nervously, knowing that Falco had been looking at her. He tried to hide his embarrassment and walked away quickly, catching up with Fox who was already a quarter way down the hall.

Fox noticed Falco's hesitation, and rolled his head in his direction. "Were you ckecking her out?"

Falco's throat went a little dry at his question, but he pretended to be innocent. "What? Who are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. You were totally staring at that receptionist."

"What? I was not!" Falco's voice rose in pitch slightly as he said this. Fox smiled, and gave him a playful shove.

"Oh yeah you were! You didn't take your eyes off of her for even two seconds, you little player!"

"Oh shut up!" Falco shouted back. "I'm sure you were exactly the same way with Krystal when you first saw her!"

"What? No I wasn't!" This time, it was Fox's turn to be on the defensive. Falco shoved him back. "Oh yes you were! Don't lie!"

"I'm not lying! I wasn't like that!" Fox's voice became more and more shrill as he progressed. Falco put his hands in the air.

"Hey man, if you say so." He laughed.

Fox and Falco reached the elevator. Fox pressed the second floor button, and walked inside. He noticed Falco was not coming with him into the elevator. He looked confused.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Dude, our room is on the third floor, not second." Falco said to him. Fox smiled.

"Have you forgotten that Krystal and Slippy are on the second floor, and that we were going to pay them a visit?" Fox replied. Falco gave a stupid grin, and slowly walked inside the elevator.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

Fox punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You would forget something like that."

"Yes. Yes I would."

The elevator brought them to the second floor, and they got out. Falco nudged Fox's shoulder with his hand.

"Which room is it again?"

Fox didn't even turn back to look at Falco. "Room 216. Weren't you listening when she said that? Or were you to busy staring at her to hear?"

"Shut up!" Falco blushed slightly. Fox smirked. He pointed to the one three doors up. "There they are, Room 216."

"Let's hope that they're there."

Fox knocked on the door three times, and waited. He heard a high pitched voice on the other side of the door.

"Hello? Who is it?"

It was Slippy. Fox answered back, "It's Fox and Falco. We've returned from the mission."

"Fox?"

Slippy opened the door, a smile on his face. "Hey Krystal! It's Fox and Falco! They're here!" He was beaming. "How'd everything go in the mission? Did you catch the guy?"

"Well, yeah… We'll get to that in a sec." Fox moved into the room, followed by Falco. "Where's Krystal? I need to tell everybody something."

"I'm right here, silly."

Fox turned his head, seeing her to his right, standing next to the sofa in the huge suite. He smiled.

"Well, aren't you all handsome in that little suit of yours!"

"Hey, Krystal! How have you been?"

She walked up to him. "I've been alright. Besides being worried sick. What happened? Did everything go alright?"

"Well, yeah, sorta…" Fox walked up to her, meeting with her in the center of the room. "I uh… kind of got into a sticky situation during the arrest…"

"What? Oh no! What happened?" she asked worriedly "Did anything go wrong?"

"Well, yes, actually, everything that could have possibly gone wrong _did _go wrong. One of my fellow agents tried to kill me."

Krystal gasped. "Oh, you poor thing! What happened to the agent? Did he get arrested as well?"

"Um… no, Krystal." He began. "You see, well… I had to kill him." He stopped, not knowing how she would react. "He was attacking me and all, and shooting, so… well, yeah…" He waited for her to respond, not knowing how she would react.

"Fox," she put her hands on his shoulders, relieving all of his worry. "I understand. We've had to kill in the past, and if you were under fire, and he was trying to kill you, what else could you have done?"

Fox swallowed. He had thought that maybe she would have taken it badly that he had killed someone, but she understood the situation he had been in, and accepted it. He smiled at her.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

Krystal smiled back. "Anyway, what you just said about that agent… it scares me, Fox. Who could be possibly out for your life?"

"I don't know." He turned to Falco and Slippy, who had went to the other side of the room, sitting on one of the sofas and chatting amiably. "But all I know is that whoever is out to get me, is out to get us all. And no agent would just randomly try to kill me without a reason of some sort. I have a feeling he was put up to it."

"Well, these are some pretty uncertain times ahead of us. I'm just glad that you're okay." Krystal said, leaning forward and kissing Fox on the cheek. "It is scary though, when you think about it. Who could have gotten to that agent to make him try to kill you? You're right; it sounds like someone is out for your blood."

"I gotta tell Slippy, too." Fox kissed her back on the cheek. "He needs to know about everything. In fact, I want to talk about it with the entire team, since I obviously can't tell anyone from the CPF."

* * *

**Authors Note: Chapter 4 coming up soon! And by the way… any of y'all see that little green button below? Push it! :D **


	5. One Last Deal

**Authors Note: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. School, research papers, family stuff, fencing, and all that jazz haven't given me much time to write. :( Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite its shortness. **

The sun rose over Corneria, banishing the darkness in which the criminals thrived. The city became busier as the morning sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Vehicles flooded the streets in rush hour, each one trying to reach work. Downtown Corneria was bustling with activity.

And unfortunately, so was the southeast ghetto.

Nearly a year ago, the CPF and military had long avoided this area of the city, almost completely giving up on it after the crime lords had taken it over. Now, any self respecting CPF officer would not dare enter the area for fear of death.

The southeast area of the city hadn't always been bad. In fact, many years ago it had been an area of residential neighborhoods, with a reputation of being safe and nearly crime free.

Then Sanguine Circle arrived. The neighborhoods rapidly diminished in population due to increased crime and violence, overseen and controlled by Sanguine Circle. Once a few left, a domino effect started, with dozens leaving every month. Thus, the drug dealing business arose. Over a course of only two years, the mighty Sanguine Circle had reduced a once pleasant area into a virtual gangland, filled with mobsters, street gangs, and crime lords. This was the haven of Sanguine Circle's drug business, and they had customers every day. This is what supplied them with money for their operations, and they had so many customers, they could buy, sell, bribe, and hire anybody they chose to do their dirty work. The public was blissfully unaware of who ran the drug deals, but even if they did, they would not be able to stop now. They were all hooked, and Sanguine Circle knew this.

Three menacing figures sat by the street, on the front porch of a small, rundown townhouse. They were silent, waiting for their next customer to come around. Here was one of many drug "shops" or so they were known as by frequenting customers. One of the three, a small warty toad, spoke out in a gruff voice to the other two. "Here he comes."

Their customer walked up the side of the street. He was another toad, of small build and somewhat tall. He had a dirty t- shirt and shorts on, with a serious expression on his face. He walked without a swagger, and had a very fast pace. He saw his dealers, but did not attract any attention to them or himself. He approached the front porch, and the three got up, walking into the house without a word, and the skinny toad followed them inside. Once they were inside, the door was closed behind them.

Inside, a small hallway led to a back room kitchen, and a short staircase branched off to the right to another small bedroom above. The three dealers led the toad to the kitchen, still not saying a word until they were inside the kitchen, to reveal a small faucet and sink, and a long, rectangular table. A small, square window let in daylight into the room, the only source of light in the building. One, muscular brown monkey stood at the corner of the room, next to the sink. He was wearing a baggy, leather jacket, and leaned back against the wall casually, eyeing the customer suspiciously as he walked past, taking a seat on the side of the table facing the wall. The light from the window shone to his right, making him stand out even more against the white wall behind him. Two of them sat on the other side of the table, across from him, while the other monkey remained standing behind them. The toad waved him off. "Go guard the front door."

He left them, walking to the door and standing by it silently. The fat toad turned to his customer. "So," he began, "I hear you want to make a large purchase from us."

"Yes, quite." The monkey reached into the waist of his shorts, and pulled out a long slip of paper and a card. "A very large purchase." He slid the paper to the other toad. He snatched the paper, and read it silently. His eyes popped out of his head with shock as he read the amount on the slip.

"Shit! Where the hell you gonna get that kinda money to buy that much dope?" He asked, his voice rising to a near shout.

"I've got my sources." The other toad said coolly. "Let's just say that you'll get your money in short time."

"Who the hell needs that much? Not you, is it?"

"No, no. I'm trying to start a dealing of my own, get away from those Sanguine dealers. They charge way too much money. You guys are the only ones left to compete with 'em."

"Well, we appreciate your support, but you can't get that kind of load, here, buddy. Hate to tell you, but you're gonna have to go to my manager to get that kind of shit. We don't got that much to give ya."

"Who is your manager? I ain't goin' back to Sanguine to get my load. They'll suspect something is up and hunt me down."

"We'd do good to have a customer like you, so I'll tell you." The toad leaned forward, his voice lowering to a whisper. "He's got headquarters in the downtown, near the edge. Go behind Kairo Hotel, and you'll see an alleyway with a small door. That's where he is. It's good to see another customer. We've been getting a lot more lately." He changed the subject very quickly.

The tall, slim toad nodded his head, and smiled. "Thank you. That's all I needed to know." He got up from his seat, and reached his hand over to the other toad's. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"And it's been a pleasure doing business with you." They shook hands. "Thank you for giving us more business."

"Your welcome." He said very politely. He strode down the hallway casually, walking toward the door. He nodded his head to the monkey at the door, smiling thinly at him. The monkey did not smile back

Then, the toad did something they did not expect. His hand swiftly moved to his waist, his slender fingers grasping something…

The monkey guarding the door did not even know what hit him as a long blade entered his neck, sending a strangled gurgle out of his mouth as he collapsed onto the floor. Before anyone else in the room could do anything to retaliate, the tall toad spun around, crouching down at the side of the door, yelling "Now!"

The door burst open, hanging ajar as a group of figures swiftly entered the room, each carrying automatic weapons.

The monkey that had been leaning against the wall reached into his black leather jacket, and pulled out a long pistol, but was immediately cut down with a spray of machine gun fire. He spun from the impact of the beams as the raked his body, falling to the floor.

The toad dealer yelled in a panic, attempting to get up from the table, but was instantly stopped as he peered down the barrels of four guns aimed directly at him. He raised his hands slowly, and his partner followed silently. Their faces were the pictures of sheer terror, their eyes wide and their hands shaking as they raised them into the air. The toad stuttered, then shouted, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

The other toad was heard walking up the hallway, flicking his blood red knife into its hidden sheath within the handle. He smiled at the pitiful figures before him. The monkey gathered enough courage to sneer.

"Damned cops! Should've known it was too good to be true, buying that much dope!"

"Hey! Did you guys hear that? He thinks we're coppers." The toad laughed giddily. The other gunmen remained silent, smirks flashing on their faces. The toad swaggered over to the middle of the room, and turned to stare both of his captives straight in the face. His cold voice revealed the true evil behind his smiling eyes as he simply stated, "Sanguine Circle, at your service."

Both of his captives' eyes grew with horror as the truth of the matter dawned on them. They had been caught in the act!

"You see, we heard about how you were supplying people outside of our jurisdiction. So, Sanguine sent me to stop you. How's that for a simple plan?" he laughed gleefully. "So, I figured that I had to offer a massive amount of money to get you to want to tell me where your manager is. Now, your dealing days are over, and your manager is next. Aren't you helpful?" He said sarcastically.

The other toad, whose eyes were glued to the gun barrel in front of him, his voice wavering, began to stutter, "W-w-we just wanted to make a little money, that's all! Nothing on a large scale!"

The toad leader rolled his eyes. "Please. I dislike wasting my time with liars like you. I have better things to do with my life."

"But we ain't lying! Honest!" The toad shivered with fear. "We're sorry! We won't deal no more! Just let us go, please!"

"Now, now, you're forgetting something about us. We aren't cops. We don't have any jails or cells to throw you guys in, and we certainly can't let you guys just walk away from all of this." He paused, raising his right hand in the air. "We're not cops. We don't take hostages."

Without another word, he lowered his hand, and the loud sound of gunfire echoed out into the streets.

Without even looking back at the two bodies behind him, he motioned for his soldiers to follow him out of the building.

"Let's go. We can't waste any more time here."

* * *

**Authors Note: Yeah, I know, another short chapter, but I usually change chapters with the change of setting. Next chapter coming (hopefully) soon!**


	6. Jackal

Fox brushed the crumbs of what used to be his breakfast into the ornate garbage can nearby. Falco, Krystal, and Slippy all beckoned him to follow them to the pair of jet black hover cars that awaited them.

"Come on, Fox. We're already running late."

Fox adjusted his tie as he walked toward the double doors to exit the hotel. "Aw, whatever. Pepper isn't going to throw a fit if we're a bit late for the conference."

"Still, it's disrespectful if we show up late." Falco replied. Fox sighed as Krystal and Slippy were already out the doors, with Krystal heading to the back car and Slippy heading to the front one.

"I guess you're right." He agreed. "Better get there fast, eh?"

"Yeah. Good thing there isn't a whole lot of traffic in the morning. At least we get nice luxury cars instead of taxis on our way there." He smiled as they walked out the door and descended the marble stairs leading to the doors of the hotel. Falco separated from Fox, taking the front car, leaving Fox to sit with Krystal.

"See you there." He opened the door, and entered the hover car. Fox entered the car with Krystal inside, and closed the door. Krystal greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hey, Fox." She kissed him on the cheek. He greeted her back.

"Good morning, hun." He gave her a peck on the cheek. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really. I was too anxious about the meeting today. What are you going to tell Pepper?"

"I'm pretty sure he already knows. Something that bad would definitely reach his ears in good time."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." She frowned. "How much longer is it gonna be like this? Living in fear of our own home city. Who ever thought Corneria would turn into something like this? Drugs, gangs, and crime have practically overrun the city."

"That's what we're going to discuss in the meeting today. We need to plan the future of the city; we need to find out a solution to this problem."

"That'll be one heck of a plan." Krystal said sarcastically. A long period of silence ensued as Fox realized the reason for her doubting. He sulked. It seemed as though no plan could ever bring the city back from the state it was in. Corruption seemed to infest every level of the government. In fact, as of yesterday, it affected the CPF, the very organization created to stop crime from becoming rampant within the city. How were they going to come up with a solution to all of this? It seemed impossible.

They remained virtually silent the entire rest of the ride there. They waited until they had finally arrived at the tall, sleek building in which the Cornerian military headquarters was located. The driver sat back in the seat, pulling the stick back to put the hover car into a stop.

"You have arrived." He stated sullenly. Fox and Krystal did not hesitate to open the doors and get out of the car. Falco and Slippy had already done so, making their way to Fox and Krystal.

"We don't want to keep Pepper waiting." Fox pointed to the building in front of them. "Let's go."

…

The southeast ghetto was bustling with activity, even more so than usual. Because of this, the little brown vehicle blended right in with the traffic of the day, cruising smoothly along the road. All of the car's windows were closed, and the faint sound of classical music could be heard by anybody nearby the car.

Decklin sat in the passenger seat of the car, with two of his own cronies sitting in the back of the car He made sure his pistol was kept well hidden inside his black jacket. Despite his experience with deals, his hands were shaking slightly. His normally rock solid personality was shaken as he heard the news given by Vermillion the previous night.

Why did he have to be the one to meet with Jackal? He was one of the only people that scared him. He barely ever spoke, and he seemed to melt into the night like a ghost. The thought of him made Decklin shudder. This was not a mission he was eager to do.

The driver turned the wheel to the right, and the car turned onto a back road. The ghetto immediately closed up on them, boxing them in with two long rows of town houses. It would have looked nice, save the fact that numerous roadside stands were set up on the rundown sidewalks, covering the small amounts of green grass in the area. The managers of each stand attempted to bargain with any possible bystander that came their way, desperate for money in exchange for any product they had. However, soon they were off of the street, and moving into a more open area, with fewer buildings around and many brownish green patches dotting the areas between buildings where healthy grass had once been. Peering at the building numbers, Decklin's eyes grew momentarily as he saw his destination, and held his hand up. The driver caught his signal right away, and pulled the stick of the car back, and it stopped.

"Stay here until I get back." He told the driver. He nodded, showing that he understood what Decklin said. He sat back, and turned off the radio, cutting off the classical music as it was playing.

He looked to the two sitting behind him, and gave a motion for them to follow him.

"Let's go. Follow me exactly." Decklin almost spat the words out, trying to keep his voice from quavering in fear. He suppressed his feelings of fear, and opened the door of the car, getting out as quickly as he could. His two goons followed suit, adjusting their ties. The tall monkey walked determinedly toward the building, trying to keep as calm as possible as he did so. His guards followed a short distance behind him. However, he did not move into the building, but instead, moved to the right side of it, intent on making his way around it. A small, grassy area lay behind the structure, encased within another circle of buildings. A dark, narrow alleyway branched off to the left of the area, its shadowed entrance deterring anybody that wanted to enter it.

Decklin could see nothing except for the walls of the alleyway, coupled with an occasional dumpster, which remained empty since the building had been abandoned. He narrowed his eyes as he searched for his client, examining every little spot on the wall, but the place appeared to be deserted. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise briefly, and shuddered as a chill was sent up his spine.

What if it was a trap? What if had the meeting place wrong? Jackal wouldn't appreciate it if he was late. His head was swimming as he continued to ask himself hypothetical questions.

Trying to control his fear, he entered the alleyway, his eyes darting left and right as he frantically searched for his client. No matter where he looked, he couldn't see anybody.

Maybe he did have the wrong location. Jackal was nowhere in sight.

Looking behind him, he saw nobody, once again. Where could he be?

He froze, realization dawning on him as he realized what he saw.

Nobody… where was his two guards?

He whirled around again, and flinched in shock, holding back a scream.

Jackal stood right in front of him, his murky black cloak draped around his shoulders and head. Decklin recoiled in surprise, as he drew in a sharp breath, gasping in astonishment.

"You were not supposed to bring anybody else with you."

The figure's voice was low and hoarse. He almost seemed to be growling at Decklin. The gangster could not utter a response. He felt the urge to take flight from the alleyway out of terror, but he got a grip over himself in order to stay put. He knew that his calm manner had deserted him completely, and it was made obvious to Jackal, who smirked in satisfaction, showing a thin line of sharp teeth out of the right side of his mouth. However, in an instant, his smile was gone, barely avoiding detection from Decklin.

The ape could not respond to Jackal, because he knew he was right. He had made a foolish error. Some time went by before anybody spoke. Finally, Decklin piped up, regaining his composure enough to stop his voice from shaking.

"Vermillion sent me here to give you the blueprints of the building. The day that the mission will be carried out is also written on it." Decklin reached into his jacket, rolling his hand over the small pistol before his fingers grasped the corner of an envelope and a piece of paper. He drew them out slowly, careful not to knock the pistol out of his jacket. His hands were trembling slightly as he held the letter out to Jackal. The cloaked figure made no motion to reach out to grab the letter, but instead, shook his head a single time.

"Drop them on the ground." He cocked his head in the direction of the ground in front of him. Decklin wisely complied, letting go of the envelope and blueprint, letting them gently fall onto the grimy surface of the alleyway. Despite this, Jackal still seemed unsatisfied. His voice grew more hoarse as his impatience was made evident to Decklin.

"Where is my pay?"

Decklin felt his throat run dry at the mention of his pay. Vermillion had specifically told him that Jackal's pay would be given to him after the assassination was carried out. He reiterated this to Jackal, afraid of the cold blooded killer's reply.

"Your pay will be given to you after the deed is done." He declared. His voice had an aura of authority around it. Perhaps it had too much authority…

"Ah. I see." Jackal said eerily.

Tension was in the air. Jackal was furious, but none of this was noticeable on his features because of the dark cloak that surrounded him.

Decklin braced himself, ready to reach for his gun if Jackal made a move, but the moment never came. Jackal spoke again.

"You can leave now." He said simply, his voice radiating pure evil. "Thank you for your time."

"You… you too." Decklin was more than eager to leave Jackal's abode, but resisted the urge to turn his back in case Jackal tried to try something. With him, it was unwise to take chances.

As he exited the alleyway, he stopped, remembering. Where were his two guards?

He froze, and turned his head slowly.

This time, he could not stop himself from crying out in horror. His hand shot up to his mouth as he felt the urge to vomit.

His guards lay on the ground, pushed into the corner of the small square of overgrown grass, half propped up against the wall. They were surrounded by a pool of blood. However, the feature of their bodies that was made most manifest in Decklin was the wide gash across their necks, with blood still trickling out of their necks. He whipped his head back around to look at Jackal, his pupils dilated out of an intense fear he had never felt before.

But Jackal wasn't there any longer, and the envelope and blueprint was gone.

Decklin's nerves could take no more. He needed to escape from this hellhole.

Panic had taken Decklin in its viselike grip, and he found himself running from the alley, his eyes wide with fright. He ran until the car was in sight, and he ran the entire way there. He stopped himself from slamming into the car by slowing his pace as he neared the car. He grabbed the handle of the little brown hover car, and threw it open. The driver looked confused and afraid of Decklin.

"Get me out of here." Decklin spat. He slammed the door shut, keeping his eyes glued to the building. The driver hesitantly tapped Decklin's shoulder.

"Where are the other guys at? Are they…"

"Drive, damn it!" Decklin snapped his head back around to face the driver. His face was twisted, and his eye twitched insanely, as he bared his teeth at him.

The driver jumped in his seat, and stopped speaking, only taking the time to nod his head. He pulled the stick forward, and stepped his foot on the heat sensing pedal on the floor. The car shot forward, leaving the scene of death and terror behind them.

…

**Author's Note: Yeah, I know I haven't updated in forever, but here is the next chapter of the next chapter. I'm getting excited, because the upcoming chapters are going to be epic(at least, I hope! :D)! **

**I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the long time between updates, but now that summer has arrived, they should be more frequent. **


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